Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. Cancer is often able to invade other tissues from its original location and spread to other parts of the body through blood and lymphatics. There are many types of cancer, which may be classified in pathology and clinical diagnosis into carcinoma, sarcoma, leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, and malignant tumors of the central nervous system.
Cancer treatment remains a challenging endeavor to both the patient and healthcare provider. Current treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, biotherapy, laser therapy, cryotherapy, thermotherapy, etc. Significant advancements have been made in recent decades in cancer prevention and treatment cancer survival rates are still low for many types of cancers. It is estimated that in the U.S. alone, there are over 1.5 million new cases of cancer and more than half million of cancer-related deaths in 2011. Thus, cancer remains a major health threat to the public.
In two published reports, a single component of high concentration sodium chloride was used in treatment of tumors. In one report, Siegle et al. reportedly used hypertonic saline to treat one patient who had multiple glomus tumors, a rare benign neoplasm arising from the glomus body under fingernails and tympanic membrane. (Siegle, et al. J. Dermatologic Surgery & Oncology 20:347-348; 1994.) A single component of 23.4% sodium chloride solution was used, which did not result in successful treatment of the patient. This patient received 4 sessions of intralumenal injection with 23.4% hypertonic saline in 6 months. In another report, Lin et al. used 36.5% hypertonic saline to treat liver tumor in rabbits and none of the tumors were successfully treated. (Lin, et al. Am. J. Roentgenology 184: 212-219; 2005.)
Therefore, an urgent need remains for novel and effective treatments for cancer.